CI's in Children

[neecy]

Okay lets put it this way..

A child is born with no arms or no legs.. But there is technology available that will give that child an opportunity to function in today's environment so the child can function with everyone else. Now this would be something I definitely if opportunity exist to enhance a child's life I'd do it - but what is being said we shoudl accept every child the way they were born. Yes, we should accept them for what they are - but if there is proven technology there that can help the child or person, what is wrong with that. I do agree it is a personal choice. But CI's can be reversed. And as for deaf people trying to act hearing if they have the CI - my personal opinion is WRONG. Because no matter what they are still deaf. Despite the fact that I can do more things now than I have in the past still doesn't make me hearing and I will NEVER be HEARING - btu yes I can FUNCTION alot better than I have in the past. So, basically speaking - people are going to continue to take advantage of technology. I bumped into a deaf family (I think they are 3rd or 4th generation) the father AND daughter both got the CI. I fell out of my chair so hard it was unbelievable. But CI's in some terms honestly is starting to become slightly accepted. There will always be the radicals who may disagree - I have crossed quite a bit and out of maybe 150 deaf people I have crossed only ONE made a bad remark about it. (this are people I personally know) and it is probably because I didnt forget who I was and didn't change who I was. And amazingly alot of them asked questions about it. But one way or another - when we bash each other like this - you know who suffers? The CI child - teh deaf community at times would shun away those who have CI and don't sign. instead of Shunning away they should embrace them and show them what the culture is really all about. For those who are hard of hearing, they are stuck in 2 different worlds - one hearing one deaf with no real acceptance. Both worlds need to work TOGETHER. Opinions are good! This is what makes life and the world much more interesting hearing different perspectives. But the point being - there is NO RIGHT or WRONG way with whatever path we choose in life or what paths we choose for our children - there are no guarantees - we love our children to death and we'd do anything for them whether we feel or think it is right or wrong.

I just wanted to say this is a FANTASTIC post!!!

 

[LisaMarie]

Again I agree with what was said- CI's nowadays are NOT "major surgery". Most are outpatient, where the patient can return home the same day. Mine took 2 hours and I went back to my hotel room after my required 2 hours post-surgery evaluation. I then went home the next day, whereas with my hysterectomy and gallbladder surgeries, I had to stay in the hospital for 5 days each time.

MANY people don't realize that the CI itself is NOT invasive. It isn't implanted in the brain. The only part that is "implanted" is the electrode coil itself. Everything else rests ina shallow bowl carved into the skull, which is not harmful to the patient or their skull. I experienced hardly ANY pain and only a little bit of dizziness/disorientation and that went away in a couple days.

HEY!!!! Calm down! i said I will tke Ismi' words .. didnt you see my post above yours?

 

[neecy]

Why does some CI says they're hearing then once they're implant with CI?....


It seem some hearing parents think once they implant their children with CI all their problems are solves and saying they're no longer deaf but hearing....


And even I tell them CI isn't a cure nor means your child is hearing....

I'm hearing when I WEAR the CI. Its an apparatus that allows me to hear. I take it off and I'm deaf. Every person who has one (or parent of a child who has one) realizes this. This is just splitting hairs, in my opinion. BIOLOGICALLY we're deaf. TECHNOLOGICALLY ASSISTED, we can hear. I hear better than my Mom in some situations and she's hearing!!!

 

[neecy]

HEY!!!! Calm down! i said I will tke Ismi' words .. didnt you see my post above yours?

I'm being calm hon - just pointing out that the CI surgery itself isn't major (I added another part to my post about watching a surgery live last November) its actually quite amazing!

 

[Angel]

I can't wait to get mine!

I'm happy for you and wish you the best too....

 

[LisaMarie]

I'm being calm hon - just pointing out that the CI surgery itself isn't major (I added another part to my post about watching a surgery live last November) its actually quite amazing!

cool.. where did u saw that show at? i assume it s on tv? is there another show about CI cuz i would like to see it and get idea what it is or how it actual work. Not that im considering about it just understand it better!

 

[Angel]

I'm hearing when I WEAR the CI. Its an apparatus that allows me to hear. I take it off and I'm deaf. Every person who has one (or parent of a child who has one) realizes this. This is just splitting hairs, in my opinion. BIOLOGICALLY we're deaf. TECHNOLOGICALLY ASSISTED, we can hear. I hear better than my Mom in some situations and she's hearing!!!

Thank you and beside I wasn't even implying this at you, afterall I've read serveral posts in CI thread saying " I'm hearing and no longer deaf "....


I think people need to be careful how they use their words afterall children or others who come across this board will think CI is a cure when it isn't....


:holding up a peace sign:

 

[highlands]

I'm hearing when I WEAR the CI. Its an apparatus that allows me to hear. I take it off and I'm deaf. Every person who has one (or parent of a child who has one) realizes this. This is just splitting hairs, in my opinion. BIOLOGICALLY we're deaf. TECHNOLOGICALLY ASSISTED, we can hear. I hear better than my Mom in some situations and she's hearing!!!

 

[neecy]

cool.. where did u saw that show at? i assume it s on tv? is there another show about CI cuz i would like to see it and get idea what it is or how it actual work. Not that im considering about it just understand it better!

I was at St Paul's Hospital, in Vancouver, BC, and it wasn't "on tv" -it was broadcasted LIVE via a webcam from the operating room into a projection unit that was set up in a conference room - so we were watching it while it actually happened down in the operating room below us (since we weren't allowed to be IN the operating room.) It was an amazing experience.

 

[LisaMarie]

I was at St Paul's Hospital, in Vancouver, BC, and it wasn't "on tv" -it was broadcasted LIVE via a webcam from the operating room into a projection unit that was set up in a conference room - so we were watching it while it actually happened down in the operating room below us (since we weren't allowed to be IN the operating room.) It was an amazing experience.

whoa! yeah i can imagine its an amazing experince!

 

[Cousin Vinny]

Cochlear implantation is most definitely not major surgery. Trust me - I've read the literature, and I've had various (non-cochlear) surgeries ranging from relatively insignificant to extremely major and life-saving. Cochlear implantation is nothing to sneeze at, sure - but it is *not* major surgery.

I disagree; General anesthesia is still used, and that fact alone makes the CI surgery a major one. Plus, it takes around two hours to complete the surgery, if posts here are to be believed.

More reassuringly, the CI surgery is increasingly becoming an outpatient surgery for newly implanted Deaf people. (I'm not sure about infants.) This translates into quicker and more successful recovery times.

I just don't want to mischaracterize the CI surgery as 'no big deal', just because it is now an outpatient procedure. For all intents and purposes, the surgeon and the patient still need to give the surgical procedure the respect it demands, and treat it accordingly as a major surgery.

 

[R2D2]

To answer R2D2 and Audiofuzzy's questions, I know I do not want to have a CI at all and I know I will not change my mind later on to get one. I do not even wear hearing aids at all. Why? Simply because I do not like wearing hearing aids.

I know both of you mean well but I don't like it when people tell me and encorage me to get a CI. Why can't they accept it that I do not want one? I respect people who have a CI or would like to have one and people should respect me for not wanting one.

Peace out

Okay thanks for clarifying. I didn't realise you didn't wear hearing aids and would tend to agree that if you have no desire to hear sound then a CI (or a hearing aid) is not for you. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I just got the impression for some reason that the reason you didn't want a CI was because of the scuba diving.

 

[R2D2]

I disagree; General anesthesia is still used, and that fact alone makes the CI surgery a major one. Plus, it takes around two hours to complete the surgery, if posts here are to be believed.

More reassuringly, the CI surgery is increasingly becoming an outpatient surgery for newly implanted Deaf people. (I'm not sure about infants.) This translates into quicker and more successful recovery times.

I just don't want to mischaracterize the CI surgery as 'no big deal', just because it is now an outpatient procedure. For all intents and purposes, the surgeon and the patient still need to give the surgical procedure the respect it demands, and treat it accordingly as a major surgery.

Good point about the general anaesthetic, even though the risks associated with that is very small these days people should be informed about it. However major surgery also often involves cutting through important organs. When I had a caesarean section I spent 5 days in hospital because of the nature of the surgery. For the first two days they took my vitals every few hours and woke me up at night to take my temperature and blood pressure.

 

[ismi]

I disagree; General anesthesia is still used, and that fact alone makes the CI surgery a major one.

True. And as someone (Twain?) put it, the only minor surgery is that which happens to someone else.

However, "major surgery" means something entirely different. For comparison, what about tonsillectomy? Tympanoplasty and/or mastoidectomy? Stapedectomy? All of these take between one and four hours - two hours isn't long at all. Outpatient surgeries like these are done all the time, and no one considers them "cruel" or controversial. In fact, with respect to anaesthesia, the outpatient death rate is 1/400,000 - you're more likely to die in a car accident going to the surgery.

Major, or inpatient, surgery, would include things like heart or major organ surgery; osteotomy; joint fusion; possibly amputation, and so on.

Plus, it takes around two hours to complete the surgery, if posts here are to be believed.

Hell, an eyelid lift - which is quite minor - generally takes one to three hours. Length of surgery doesn't correlate all that well to the severity of the procedure, until you get up to really long surgeries (8-48 hours).

 

[R2D2]

Hell, an eyelid lift - which is quite minor - generally takes one to three hours. Length of surgery doesn't correlate all that well to the severity of the procedure, until you get up to really long surgeries (8-48 hours).

My caesarean only took about half an hour from the time they first began the cut through to when they finished stitching me up. I was awake the whole time and they used an epidural instead of a general anaesthetic. And yet it is major surgery with a death rate of about 2-4 in 10,000. It goes to show that a lot of factors come into play when defining major surgery.

 

[DefLord]

I disagree; General anesthesia is still used, and that fact alone makes the CI surgery a major one. Plus, it takes around two hours to complete the surgery, if posts here are to be believed.

More reassuringly, the CI surgery is increasingly becoming an outpatient surgery for newly implanted Deaf people. (I'm not sure about infants.) This translates into quicker and more successful recovery times.

I just don't want to mischaracterize the CI surgery as 'no big deal', just because it is now an outpatient procedure. For all intents and purposes, the surgeon and the patient still need to give the surgical procedure the respect it demands, and treat it accordingly as a major surgery.

Oh Eyeth do you always have to DISAGREE??

But honestly it isn't a major surgery like a heart surgery or a transplant or anything like that. But agreed with the post above everyone has their own definition of major. At first I considered the CI a major surgery after I had it done, I considered it a minor surgery something I went in had my surgery, woke up and went home.

 

[Cheri]

I'm hearing when I WEAR the CI. Its an apparatus that allows me to hear. I take it off and I'm deaf. Every person who has one (or parent of a child who has one) realizes this. This is just splitting hairs, in my opinion. BIOLOGICALLY we're deaf. TECHNOLOGICALLY ASSISTED, we can hear. I hear better than my Mom in some situations and she's hearing!!!

Sometimes you need to calm down, I noticed that you get so uptight when we are debates remember all CI threads are always heat. And what ^Angel^ was reapplying that some people who has CI would say that they are hearing and refused to admit that they're deaf when they're not wearing it.

 

[R2D2]

This morning on my CI e-mail support group there was someone complaining that a hearing job recruitment officer told them they were "no longer deaf" and instead of using the relay they could return phone calls directly.

Hmmmm. I don't think CI hearers can win. On one hand some deaf people claim that they are not choosing to be deaf and some hearing people say they are not deaf anymore either.

I've never actually come across any CI wearer on my e-mail groups that claimed to be hearing when not wearing their CI. That has to be a pretty unusual case of denial Angel. It sounds like your friend could do with some counselling?

 

[Audiofuzzy]

>>>I know both of you mean well but I don't like it when people tell me and encorage me to get a CI. Why can't they accept it that I do not want one?<<<

I REALLY do NOT encourage anyone to get implanted with CI, please read carefully what I write and re-read if you are not sure so there will be no mis-understanding. I do understand and I do accept anyones personal decision.
So yours too, BFlyGirl.


All that time I simply want to point out to some pple who reject CI on the spot that sometimes their cons against CI are not reasonable.
Like saying "do not implant babies, let them make their own decision later".
You see if you researched about human development you would have better understanding why exactly babies and young children would benefit MOST from having CI. (It is never an easy decision regardles)

If you say then "OK I understand, on one hand my child would develop optimal language skills when implanted early, but I feel she/he will be OK as deaf" - then I say fine! it's your child, your decision,

But DON'T tell me please "my child should choose", because then IT WILL BE TOO LATE for the FULL benefits!!
Parents work is never easy. I do not say "you must implant your baby" - I am saying MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.
Research, ask around people whose child got CI, ask drs, ask CI technicians etc. Ask about language development and hearing development because folks humans LEARN how to hear it's not like a switch on/off - now you hear now you don't.
That is why we deaf pple when we hear something we often ask- what is it? because we didn't learn how to recognize sounds.

But most of all teach your child about deaf culture, why it is important part of any deaf and HI person life, and that CI does not mean a child should abandon the deaf "ways".

Another thing is that irritates me is this whole idea that CI alone is responsible for the deaf dropping out from deaf culture.
No, no and once again no!
it 's the mentality- how you think about your self, how you relate and compare to other pple. How do you perceive ypourself in your own eyes.

Not the CI itself. CI is just a tool, and how does one choses to use this tool is up to that person.

make an informed decision, not emotional one.

Fuzzy

 

[Cheri]

All that time I simply want to point out to some pple who reject CI on the spot that sometimes their cons against CI are not reasonable.
Like saying "do not implant babies, let them make their own decision later".
You see if you researched about human development you would have better understanding why exactly babies and young children would benefit MOST from having CI. (It is never an easy decision regardles)

If you say then "OK I understand, on one hand my child would develop optimal language skills when implanted early, but I feel she/he will be OK as deaf" - then I say fine! it's your child, your decision,

But DON'T tell me please "my child should choose", because then IT WILL BE TOO LATE for the FULL benefits!!

Just because it's how we feel it doesn't make our argument wrong or our feelings wrong. Don't we have a right to our opinions? we are legally entitled to believe anything we like, You cannot just go on saying that our point of argument are pointless. Nobody here had say anything about not implanting on babies/children, some of us had said we don't believe, that is different than telling someone don't implant their children. Are they going to listen to us? Of course not, But, It is plain wrong for me or some of us to hold our opinions on this very subject. This is a discussion board, we have rights to argue our point of view if we wish to do, just like some of you here do.